Alley 1

Joshua Alley
Professor Diehl
HUMN-2010-B
25 September 2023

Reading Response #4 Sublime Santeria

The tragic artist is a recurring theme in various forms of art, whether it be in painting,

video, or music. One such tragic musical artist is Bradley Nowell, known for his work with the

band Sublime. This band has a very short discography of three albums one of them being a

complete studio album the reasoning for this is Bradley Nowell died of a heroin overdose right

before the release of their first studio album. In this album, there are two main hits on this album

“What I Got” and “Santeria.”

The Song “Santeria.” opens with a guitar riff reminiscent of the Red Hot Chili Peppers

and their song “Under The Bridge.” Following this, a reggae-inspired syncopated beat kicks in,

and we hear the opening line, “I don't practice Santería.” Santería is a diaspora religion that

originated in Cuba in the late 19th century, which reinforces the Reggae themes of the song.

Next Bradley brings up a girl named Heina and her new boyfriend Sancho. He expresses his

desire to “CAP” Sancho and hit Heina. While there’s not a type of love for this, I would call this

a jealous love. In the chorus of the song, Bradley apologizes for his actions and that he gives up

his soul so that he can love. The chorus and core of the song show Philautia and Pragma love for

Heina.

This jealousy between Bradley and Sancho is the main driving force through this song

and these threats that Bradley makes threats like ones a gang member would say. This driving
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force is also hidden by this upbeat reggae tempo similar to songs like "I Don't Like Mondays" by

Boomtown Rats and "Hey Ya!" by OutKast where the meeting is hidden by a fun upbeat rhythm.

Compared to similar songs on the album Santeria is a song solely based on the dynamic

of these three characters and not about Bradley's interactions with drugs or his life. With only

three albums to their name and their debut album never having been seen by its creator,

Sublime's body of work exists in a realm of its own.